"Starting in October 2009, our schools were the first in New York City to have Meatless Mondays."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on school cuisine -- both in terms of things 'green' and things 'healthy'. For it's ironic that as people we recognize the value of good food in fostering good conversation and camaraderie, yet so often our school cafeteria lines are full of fried, salty, sugary heart-attack food seemingly at best bent on fostering bad breath and stomach cramps.

Maybe we ought to keep in mind that 'teaching' doesn't take a lunch break.

8 comments:

I think this is a very important topic that is effecting our children now and in their future, both in terms of health and in environmentally sound practices. For instance, for Earth day, our classroom was paperless ~ and that included a "Trash Free" lunch. Every student in my classroom packed a lunch that day in reuable containers. There were NO paper goods used, no plastic baggies or prepackaged foods, and even their drinks were in reusable beverage containers. Ironically, the district chose to have a "picnic" lunch, where they served an Uncrustable (in a plastic bag), with chips (in a plastic bag), baby carrots (in individually packaged bags), a banana (the only thing without artificial packaging!), milk in a carton, and a paper napkin - - - all served in a paper bag!! For every child who ate the "regular" school lunch, they produced 6 pieces of trash! If you were to compare the school provided lunch with the lunches my students brought, it was astounding the amount of garbage (both actual garbage and quality of food) between the two groups. The students in my class had more fruit, healthier sandwiches (turkey, cheese, etc vs. jelly and PB), and overall healthier meals in general. (There were NO chips, for example.)

Another example of an "approved" meal at our school is - - - now get this - - - for breakfast, at least 2 times per month, students are offered FUNNEL CAKE as a breakfast choice (mind you, COVERED in powdered sugar.)

I had disgusting breath for years. I had no friends and even family keep me at a distance.I was flossing brushing and rinsing everyday but still had bad breath. I spent thousands on all kinds of products claiming to stop bad breath but still had bad breath. I came across an eBook from badhalitosisbreathCom and it gave me my first insight into my problem. After I did all the advice in the eBook it identified Post Nasal Drip as the primary issue with eating and cleaning as the oral problem. So I was happily surprised when my brother asked the following week why my breath didn’t smell any more, I told him what I’d done he’s like thank god for that book! Now 6 months later I have my first girlfriend and worked up enough courage to tell her about what I was like just 1 year ago. She said I smelt better then any other boyfriend she’d had. Music to my ears!

PBJ on wheat bread has just as much protein and more nutrition than most deli sandwiches. Just don't use the over processed jelly or super sugar peanut butter. Don't know much about those uncrustables though.

Consider this. Poll high school teachers and ask how many of them eat in their school cafeteria. In my school teachers are ticked off if they forget their lunch and don't have time to go out because they have to eat the school lunch. Its terrible.

If it isn't good enough for the adults, why do we make the students eat it?

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Teach Paperless: Now!

TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

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